Strawberry and Rhubarb Pie

Our strawberry patch has really grown well this spring and we are confident that we will not have to buy strawberries ever again. Instead we will have them fresh and in season every year from our own garden and not shipped from California or beyond, and isn’t that the best? I was thinking of ways to use the berries and decided it would be a good idea to combine them with the rhubarb we are also harvesting around this time (blog post here!) and make strawberry and rhubarb pies.

It’s pretty neat to think this can be a new tradition for our family as these plants are now established perennials and I can make pies from their harvest every June. YUM!

I had to practice this pastry a few times to get it right as my only experience with pie pastry was a vegan version and this was also my first time blind baking the base of the pie, but I’m happy with the result. Here is the recipe I used for my strawberry rhubarb pie (want to make it vegan? Use the crust recipe from this cherry pie post, or this apple pie)

Pastry:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup salted butter, chilled

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt or sour cream

Chill the butter and cut into cubes. Using cold hands blend the butter and flour until it resembles moist sand by rubbing it between your fingers. Once well blended add in the yogurt or sour cream and mix until a dough forms. Divide into two balls and wrap in cling film to chill in the fridge one hour.

For the filling take 1-2 cups each of washed and diced strawberries and washed and cut rhubarb and mix in 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons of corn starch for thickening.

Once chilled, roll out one ball of pastry dough to make the bottom of the pie. Fit the rolled dough into a pie tin and trim the edges to fit.

To blind bake the base set the oven to 350ºF and lay a sheet of parchment or tinfoil over the base and fill with beans or baking beads (I used soy beans), gently pressing them down to shape the base of the pie. Bake about 45 minutes or until crust is cooked.

Allow the base to cool for 15 minutes then add the pie filling. Roll out the second ball of dough large enough to cover the top of the pie.

Seal the edges and slice some venting into the surface of the pie. Brush with egg and sprinkle with a bit of sugar.

Bake at 350 for around 45 minutes, checking until the crust is golden brown.